flowers in her hair
by Odat
Summary: February Flower Challenge. A collection of drabbles and one shots based on flowers. Soul/Maka
1. we fell in love at an early age

So this is going to be a new collection of drabbles, one shots, and maybe a connected piece here or there. My goal is to write a little something everyday in February based on a flower prompt challenge. Similar to Counterparts, the ratings for each chapter will be different. I thought about just throwing them into Counterparts, but if all goes well, there is going to be 29 of these.

The next chapter of Dragon has been started, so look out for that in the near future.

Primroses - Early youth

[K]

* * *

_we fell in love at an early age_

The first time they met, he was wearing a suit. Which was sort of adorable on a ten year old. He kept tugging at the collar of his shirt as though it were choking him and his tie had been loosened considerably, much to his mother's chagrin because she kept trying to fix it and each time she turned around it was yet again loose and crooked.

Maka loved her fancy little green and white dress. Her mama had picked it out for her. It had pockets too, so she had been able to stuff a few of her tiny fairy books into them. It was good to know that if she got bored she could always go read somewhere. She wasn't too fond of the shoes though, they pinched her toes.

Now, Maka was not a picky eater by all means. Fish was one of the very few things that was totally off limits. But, as it so happened, most of the buffet had fish things. Fish everything. Fish eggs on crackers (EW!), slices of fish on tiny bagles (why would you do that to a bagel!?), whole gross slimey disgusting looking things that people were slurping on (GROSS!).

She had been scouring the food table while her parents talked with some very important looking people when she bumped into a boy who looked like he was about her age. Maybe a little older. The silvery hair made it kind of hard to tell. But mostly it made her think of stars (what would happen if she made a wish on him?). He shot her an ugly look, which Maka did not appreciate because manners!

"Excuse me!" She said as haughtily as she could.

"You're not excused. You nearly made me get cocktail sauce all over my shirt." He was holding a plate piled high with all of the gross fish things. Maka made a face.

"How do you eat that stuff? It's so gross!"

The boy looked at his plate and then grinned. Huh. He had shark teeth. Maka would know, she just finished reading one of her animal books all about sharks. She liked whale sharks the best, they were like gentle giants. For her birthday she wanted to go swimming with them. Mama had said maybe. Which usually meant no.

Except, if he was some kind of shark it would make sense that he was eating fish stuff.

"It's good. Plus my mum isn't looking so I can take as much as I want."

Maka looked over the table again. So far the only things that didn't look like they had fish in or on it were golden fluffy looking muffins, but they were too far away for her to reach. Damn her short arms!

He must have seen her eyeing them because he reached up and grabbed her two, putting them on her plate with a sigh. "There. I was nice to you. Even though you bumped into me."

Despite his rude comment, Maka gave him a big smile (Mama said she could only stomp on toes if people were mean three times, he had only been mean twice). "Thank you! My name is Maka, what's yours?"

"Soul."

"That's a really cool name. Do you want to go hide under a table with me?"

"Hell yeah." he said.

It wasn't until the party was nearly over that their parents realized they hadn't seen their children in far too long. Wes was the one who found them under a table by the windows, passed out and surrounded by dessert wrappers. His little brother was propped up against one of the legs of the table with a little girl's head in his lap, using him as a pillow. He made sure to grab a picture on his phone to show their mother. And also tease Soul with later. Because he was a good big brother like that.

When Spirit picked her up and carried her away, Maka gave a sleepy wave at the boy also being carried by his father. Soul's entire family had silvery hair and they looked so much like stars all together that she made a wish that she'd see Soul again someday.

(They made sure at their wedding that there were pillows under some of the tables and food that was a little be more kid friendly. Also a lot less fish type food.)


	2. under the desk

I am so going to end up continuing this later on for this challenge.

Tulip - Fame

[K]

* * *

_under the desk_

He nearly knocks the vase of tulips off her desk when he dives under it.

The tiny blond woman is yelling and brandishing a book (in a really threatening way) but he's more afraid of his brother than he is of her right now. "Shhh! I just need to hide! Shh!"

"Who in the hell do you think you are!? Get out from under there!" She kept pulling down her skirt and trying to beat him with the book she was still holding.

"My brother is literally going to murder me!"

"How is that my problem!?"

Footsteps (more like thundering elephants) were drawing closer and Soul finally grabbed her behind her knees and pulled her and her rolling chair forward so it looked like she was just sitting at her desk normally. The fact that he was now currently basically kissing her knees was aside from the point. It was pretty clean under her desk, Soul would admit, he was a little impressed.

"Just let me hide. Please." he hisses.

"Why should I?"

"I'll make it worth it. Honest."

She hazards a glance down at him, he's got to look pretty pathetic because she glares and is about to say something right until Soul can literally hear his brother panting.

"Miss, I am so sorry. Have you seen a guy, looks like me but not as handsome, probably came tearing through here like five minutes ago?"

Wes is an asshole and if he hadn't just played the best prank ever on his brother, he would care more. Heh, he totally owned his brother. Even though he is now hiding under a desk with some poor hotel receptionist's very long legs in front of him.

"Messy white hair? Rumpled suit?" she says.

"Yes! Yes that's him!" Shit, Wes really is going to kill him if he gets his hands on him. Oh please oh please oh please, tiny woman, do not let him down!

"He went that way."

"You're a saint!" From what Soul can hear Wes is already running in whatever direction she pointed to. He waits a few moments until he is absolutely sure that he's gone and then lets out a long sigh. Which makes the woman he's using to hide shiver.

Soul scoots out from under the desk but stays seated on the floor looking up at her. "You. You just saved my life. Thank you." He squints at her plain black blazer (huh, never figured something so boring could be so…hot) to find her name tag, "Maka. Thank you."

She just glares at him. "Who was that. Why are you hiding from him. And who the hell are you?"

It has been a long time since anyone except Wes has spoken to him like that. It's kind of really refreshing.

"That was my older brother. I kinda just pranked the pants off him. Literally. It was awesome. I'm Soul." He grins at her.

Maka scowls at him, but then goes pale. Very pale. "Soul…as in Prince Soul?"

Damn, so she does know who he is. "Yeah, that's me."

"And that was Crown Prince Wes?"

"Yup."

She's still pretty pale.

"So since you helped me out, I owe you one. Prince's word." He grins at her again and is pretty pleased with the way her cheeks turn pink. "Let me know if you need something, Maka."

He kinda hopes she takes him up on the offer.


	3. tired of slides

Once she got past the slouching, the slurping, the swearing, and the constant sexist comments, well…he was actually still an asshole.

Except she is too in her own way, and neither of them can quite figure out how to get along at first.

He gets defensive when she tries to compliment him, thinking that her comments are snide and meant to take him down. But then she doesn't take criticism well, instead lashing out at him in a decidedly unkind and unproductive way.

It's hard to find a middle ground, somewhere that they can talk without insulting each other or reverting back to silence. Maka would like to think she makes more of an effort than he does, but that's a dangerous train of thought that just leaves her with a sour taste in her mouth. Because he does try, it just takes her a while to realize that's what he's doing when he's watching her.

Basically, this stupid school project is never going to get done because he's a lazy asshole and she's a perfectionist and that's probably why their professor put them together on it.

—

"Soul! Did you write those paragraphs for the paper?"

He lifts his head up from the desk and inch to look at her, "Nope. Cause you changed everything around, remember?"

"You were still supposed to write them! It would have been good to have for the rough draft!"

Soul just groans and pulls his sweatshirt's hood over his head. Seriously, just three more weeks of putting up with her and then they could present the project and it would be done and over with and he wouldn't have Maka Fucking Albarn hounding him for stupid shit.

"I am not going to get anything less than an A- on this, Soul!"

"Are you fucking allergic to bees or something?" Heh, good one, maybe that stand up comedy gig will work out (lies. He hates crowds).

She whacks him with the history book she had been reading.

—

"There's too much text on these slides, the graphics suck and seriously? Slide transitions? What are you, five?" He's scrolling through her mock up of the presentation (that she made, all on her own, didn't even ask him to help) and it sucks. Like royally.

Maka scoffs and keeps typing. "Like you could do any better. If I let you do it, the presentation would have been three blank slides." Okay, so that may have been a little harsh, but she is tired and stressed and they only have two more weeks and she's totally right!

He ignores her, which isn't unusual and nearly an hour later of awkward silence and tapping keys (the only way she knows he hasn't gone back to sleep) she gets an email from him.

"What's this?" She asks looking at the pretty much blank email. Except there's an attachment. And oh…it's the powerpoint. Or…a new one actually. That looks…kind of amazing. Except all of her notes and talking points are gone.

She opens her mouth to point that out but he beats her to the punch, "They'll show up when it's in presentation mode. I just rearranged it all."

"It looks better. Thank you, Soul."

He actually looks surprised, "You're welcome."

—

"Okay, one more time."

"Maka, we've already practiced three times!"

"And we're still two minutes short! Look, here, that's one minute each, we can do this Soul, I know we can."

"…Yeah, alright."

—

"We're done!"

"Finally! God. That was awful." He blushes and grins at her, "Thanks for saving my ass when I blanked. Don't know what happened."

Maka just smiles at him, "I totally understand. The slides were beautiful, I noticed you changed the font again, I liked this one the best."

Because they went from hating everything about each other, to figuring it out and working with their weaknesses and strengths until it was just second nature.

"Hey, you want to grab coffee sometime?" Soul asks after a moment of thought.

"That would be fun, yes please."

Because even though he's still an asshole, she doesn't really mind as much anymore.


	4. through gates unknown

Hydrangea - Heartlessness

[T]

_through gates unknown_

He was drunk off his ass and staggering home when he walked by the garden. It was one of those semi private gardens with high fences that made it almost impossible to get into. The moon was full and it was a clear night, the air was chilled but in his drunken haze he couldn't feel it.

The garden had never really interested him before, hell, it still didn't but the moonlight playing across huge flowering bushes caught his eye. Maybe it was just because he was drunk, but the pale flowers were caught between a strange blue or a purple, they were almost like mist captured against leaves. Apparently that last shot (or the last third of the bottle) of whiskey had been a bad idea. It was hard to tell if the flowers were moving or if he was just swaying back and forth.

So he'd been dumped, she'd been heartless and cold anyway. No big deal, right? Not like he loved her, right? After so much alcohol he still hadn't been able to convince himself of that actually. There was still an ache in his chest that hadn't dulled.

Something kept tugging at him to go into the garden and he was drunk enough to follow it. Worst thing that would happen was that he fell asleep on a bench for a while and woke up with a crick in his neck. If anyone tried to mug him it wouldn't really matter, he had maybe two dollars in his wallet and his friend had confiscated his phone as soon as they started drinking so he couldn't text his ex.

There was a large gate, open which was strange for this hour at night, ornately decorated and gilded with swooping designs and motifs. Honestly, he was a little surprised he'd never noticed it before now. He walked by here pretty frequently, how could he have missed gates like this before? They looked almost like they were painted in silver and dripping stars.

That tugging feeling was happening again, could feel it deep in his soul. Or maybe that was the liquor. It was sort of hard to tell. He walked through the grand gates, still wondering how he could have missed them and the air smelled sweeter on this side. Must have been all the weird misty flowers.

The unkempt sidewalk gave way to a pure white gravel walk way that he didn't think too much about, it was actually easier to walk on than to look out for cracks that were out to get him and make him fall flat on his face.

He could hear laughter coming from father down the trail, and what looked like really expensive Christmas lights hung in the air, almost floating in the darkness, lead him down the path. It was hard to see how they were supported or even if they were connected actually, they just sort of floated along the way like fireflies or fairies. The thought made him chuckle. Yeah, right. Fairies.

More laughter and the tinkling of bells pulled him farther in, maybe there was another party. He could sort of use another drink, or maybe just some water, the worst of his buzz was starting to wear off. He glanced up on a whim because the moon really was gorgeous that night and found himself looking at an entire sky full of stars.

It was stunning and entirely impossible, he was in the middle of the fucking city, gardens be damned. Almost immediately, he found himself looking for familiar constellations (the ones he had to do reports on way back in forth grade but also the ones his older brother had pointed out to him when they were little and vacationing up in the mountains and meant home). But there weren't any. Not a single star lead to a constellation, and yeah, he may have only known like five of them, but he knew them by heart and could always find them.

Maybe he really was drunker than he thought. If he did find whatever party he was heading towards, he'd ask for some water. That sounded like a good plan.

Around the curve of the path, hidden by an enormous bush of flowers even taller than he was, he found a girl.

She looked as startled as he felt. Because she was hovering a few feet above the ground and placing glowing flowers in the branches of a willow tree. Her wings were bright and sparking gold, casting warm shadows across her face and, god...Were her eyes glowing too? He'd never seen such green eyes before.

His ex had had crystal clear blue eyes, but they were put to shame by how strikingly green this...fairy's...eyes were.

Oh god. Just how drunk was he!?

"How did you get in here?" She asked him accusingly. Her hair was in pig tails of all things and the pale lavender of her dress kept shifting, almost like the flowers at the gate.

"I walked." He told her with a shrug. It was the truth after all. He wasn't sure why he was so perfectly fine with the fact that she was literally flying towards him. If he were being honest with himself, he had been more bothered when he couldn't find any constellations.

She landed a few feet in front of him, looking him over suspiciously, "Who are you?"

"Soul." he said.

"Were you invited? Did someone bring you here? You don't belong here, we have to get you back." With each question she rose from the ground and he wanted to pull her back down and hold her against him.

"Why? Where is here? What's your name?" Because of all the pressing questions, that last one was actually the most important to him.

She looked panicked. "This is the fairy world, and bad things come for wanderers."

"And your name?" Soul asked again.

"Maka...and I promise to get you out of here alive, Soul. But I can't promise you'll be the same by the end of it."


	5. panties for days

Daisy - Innocence

[T]

_panties for days_

The growth of Maka Albarn, Soul decides, can be measured by her panties. And no, not the sizes, the patterns and cuts.

He's been doing laundry in their respective household long enough to have seen it all.

When they're 12 and they have the whole world ahead of them, and he hates hates hates doing laundry 'cause it so isn't cool, especially a girl's laundry (isn't that where cooties breed!?) her panties are just really kind of plain. Flowers, smiley faces, innocent prints that don't mean anything. No words written across the butt, no lace, no real nothing. Just plain cotton panties. Age appropriate (which he is a little impressed that she didn't just skip straight to granny panties) and simple.

Then they're 13 and things start to change. He can't seem to eat, sleep, or jerk off enough (or grow, he swears those pants fit yesterday and now they're an inch above his ankles). And Maka gets even more bookish, which is a feat all unto itself really. Her panties stop being quite so cutesy patterned, more stripes, solid colors, and some polka dots. Nothing too major, nothing he can't put through the washer and dryer.

They don't really change again until they're 16 or so and he's still growing like a fiend and sleeping every chance he gets (the jerking off has subsided though, which is great, cause tissues in bulk were expensive and embarrassing to buy). Maka is still Maka, relatively unchanged as far as he's noticed. Her panties though...little bits of lace start to appear, and the cuts change too; more like boy shorts and other things that reveal more buttcheek than he is prepared to deal with when she's swinging him around during a fight.

It's weird and he isn't sure what to think about it (except he does think about it more than he would like). Especially the one pair that are not allowed to go into the dryer. That pair plagues him. They're kinda not even that sexy, just this sheer blue with a paler lace trim and when the hell does she wear those!? This is his meister! They're in each other's heads and souls and they live together for fucks sake! He has never in his life seen those on her.

So just who is she wearing them for?

It takes him a week to get over that thought.

By the time they are 18, he's so fucking done with the array of panties she now has. It's absurd. Like truly. There are the plain cotton ones, there are the black boy shorts, the sheer hipster ones that can't go in the dryer, there are the ALL lace ones (hnnng) that have to go in the bag with her bras (don't even get him started on her bras), and then he finds the red thong.

He is 18. He is cool. He is Soul Eater Evans, the Last Deathscythe. He is fucking awesome. (He is also kinda totally in love with his meister.)

He is fucking losing his shit because his innocent little meister has a red thong and he can't even fucking even. He can't even odd! What the actual fuck!? It was just sitting there on top of some black leggings in the laundry basket under a pair of his boxers. And he is staring in abject terror at it, frozen mid movement in front of the washing mashing, mouth gaping open, mind blank.

His Maka. Maka Albarn. Red thong. Thong. Red. Red thong. Maka. His Maka. Red thong.

Something between a laugh and a shriek and a groan bubbles up from the back of his throat. Because his mind has gone places it can never come back from. Soul can already tell that red thong is going to haunt his dreams for the rest of his life.

"Everything okay in there?" Maka asks from the living room. As if this wasn't all her fault. God! He thought he was over this whole stupid kinda verging on creepy panty thing! She is his meister! They live together! Get your shit together Soul...it's just a red thong. That his meister wears.

WHY IS THIS SO HARD!?

Speaking of hard.

Fucking seriously. There is apparently no end to his shame in sight. And his fucking sweatpants are doing absolutely jack all nothing to hide his dick.

"Fine." he grunts, still displeased with the world and glancing between the thong and the tent he's pitched. Is there even a snarky comment he can make without coming off like a total douchebag? He'll get chopped regardless, that's already factored into the equation, it's just gotta be good enough to warrant being chopped.

"We aren't out of detergent are we?" Fucking shit! So he jumps like two feet in the air, cause his meister is a quiet little thing and can sneak up on him like nobody's business. "I thought we bought some recently. Or did you find another spider in the lint catch?"

Soul glares at her, one does not mention the spider in the lint catch. That's just below the belt.

"Was just wondering why you've got Liz's panties in our laundry, something you want to tell me?" Ha! Safe...kinda. Maybe. From the look on her face, not at all. Shit.

She glances at him and then to the basket and turns...well as red as the thong in question. It's a good shade on her. FUUUUUCK him. Wow.

"Those are mine. Not Liz's. I was just washing them because they're new."

Well, now he's really glad he had strategically kept his hips pointed against the washing machine, cause this boner refuses to go away. Hell, if he had any blood left in his system, he'd probably be blushing too. But nope, all busy down south.

"Seriously?"

"What's it matter to you? Why did you want to wear them?" Thanks but no thanks that is not in his repertoire of secret kinks. She's smirking like she's finally got the best of him.

"God no, but I'd love to see them on you." Waggling his eyebrows makes it clear that he's joking right? And not actually dying inside because yes, he really does want to see them on her.

Maka bites her lip and tilts her chin up, this usually means she is facing a challenge and is determined to win. But Soul's got not clue what she is trying to win. "What if I said I had been planning on wearing them on Valentine's Day for a little bit of extra courage?"

The fuck. "You're Maka Albarn, you've got all the courage in the world and then some. What would you need extra courage for?"

"This." She stands up on her tip toes to push their lips together, tilting her head so their noses don't bump.

Ya know, of all the things a red thong would lead to, he had not expected this. He kisses her back, nipping at her bottom lip like he's wanted to do for years, and the way she squeaks is kinda really cute. Forgetting that he has the world's largest tent in his pants, Soul turns and wraps his arms around her, pulling her to him.

And then she's giggling. Which is a weird and fantastic feeling against his lips. "Should I be upset that they have this effect on you and I'm not even in them?"

"Literally just the thought of you in them." Seems like he has a little blood left in him, cause his cheeks and ears feel hot as hell, "can't wait to see them on you."

"Well maybe we should have a sneak peek with the black one I got instead?"

Oh fuck him sideways, "yes please."


	6. no place like home

Zinnia - Thoughts of absent friends

for the ever darling yyeann , thank you for listening to me bitch and moan and still telling me i'm cute. 3

[G]

It's been a while, actually a really long time, since he's been home. It'll be good to see everyone again, Kid, Black Star, Tsubaki, everyone.

* * *

_no place like home_

He hadn't been back to the desert in years. The heat was oppressive and prickling across his skin. How he managed to wear a jacket for school was beyond him.

The airport hadn't changed much, but then airports don't really change at all. Soul walked across the tarmac, his bag in hand and sun pressing down on his shoulders. There was a tang to the air that he hadn't realized he'd missed.

He grinned at nothing in particular. Kid had recalled him after nearly five years of working in Europe. From what he had gathered Black Star and Tsubaki were in the area still and had a kid. There were knicknacks and presents in his bag, because he was obviously going to be the coolest honorary uncle ever.

It'd be good to see them again, Tsubaki had always been such a stable friend and Black Star, well, he was his own special kind of crazy, but he was still Soul's bro. No matter how long it had been since they had hung out.

Kid too, as the new Lord Death they had spoken through mirrors for the past five years but it would be good to see him in person. Liz and Patti had sometimes been in the back ground, but Soul was really looking forwards to seeing them again as well. He was going to have to grill Liz to see what music he'd missed. And undoubtedly, Patti would have some kind of weird new scheme in place to sabotage Kid's perfect symmetry.

Man, so many people so see and catch up with. He'd have to play basketball with Kilik and Harvar. Blair was probably going to jump him, but that wasn't anything new, hell, it'd been so long he was looking forward it. Kim and Jackie had actually ended up on a mission with him in Russia, but that had been a few years ago.

Kid had already mentioned that he wanted Stein to give him a check up since he had been so long since the last one. And he was really excited to see Stein's kid. Hopefully she took after Marie more than her father.

And Maka? Where the hell was she anyway. "Oi, slowpoke, you coming or not?"

"Ugh! You could have helped me, you butt!"

Soul turned around to grin at her, "Was just waiting for ya. Good to be home?"

"It'll be good to be home when we are actually home. I'll believe it when I see it that Blair kept our apartment and didn't turn it into a sex toy shop or something."

Soul laughed and held out his hand for her as she stepped down from the stairs. "Yeah yeah, it'll be fine. Let's go, mumma."

"I'd like to see you hurry when you look like you're hiding a beach ball in your shirt!"

She was really quite very pregnant. They had just managed to fly home before she really did pop, because as his wife had said, she was not having their baby "in an igloo in the frozen tundra of middle of bumfuck no where!"

Their accommodations had been a bit nicer than that, but not much.

When she grasped his hand he pulled her against him and pecked her lips. "Sorry, let me know if you need a break."

"We've been over this, I am not made of glass, god damn it."

"I know, come on. Let's go see everyone."


	7. under sleeping leaves

Rhododendron - Danger

[G]

Continuation of through gates unknown (hydrangea)

* * *

_under sleeping leaves_

He is still so drunk that the fairy, Maka she had said her name was, had shoved him under a very large bush with waxy leaves to sleep off the alcohol. As cute as she was, she was damn violent. Soul wasn't sure if he had actually fallen asleep or she had just chopped his head with a book (where had it even come from?) so hard that he passed out.

Either way, when he woke up he had a splitting headache. Hell, when he woke up he wondered if his drink had been laced because as dreams went, that one was pretty weird. Not the weirdest, but still pretty weird. The light was filtering through the leaves but watching them shift in the light breeze was making his stomach sick.

Soul groaned and rolled over, what a weird night. First time he'd ever woken up under a bush. Couches, other people's beds, the floor, there was that one time he ended up under a piano, but definitely the first time he'd been under a bush. Wes was going to get a kick out of this whenever he managed to get his phone back from Kilik.

"Good, you're up. We have a long way to travel." A voice said from just on the other side of the bush. Normally he would have been startled, but instead the idea of movement just made his head throb and his stomach turn. "We have to move! You've been here too long already!"

"S'fine. I'll just follow the path back." Soul slurred back still not quite understanding who was speaking to him.

"That path is gone! They only ever go one way! Just how hungover are you?" The voice demanded.

He shifted again trying to find a slightly more comfortable position on the root he was using as a pillow.

"Wake up!" There was a rustling of leaves and then he was being forcefully dragged out from his shady haven.

"What do you want?!" Soul grunted as he tried to fight his annoying attacker off. "Just leave me alone!" He squinted in the bright light at the figure in front of him.

There was a small shriek, sort of like a kitten who was pissed off, and then a harsh flick to his forehead. And just like that his hangover was gone, a warm tingling feeling running through his body chasing out all the aches and pains.

Finally able to see straight without squinting he looked up and right into bright green eyes. "Oh shit."

She rolled her eyes, "Yes, oh shit. We have to move. I promised I would return you to your world, I intend to keep that promise."

Soul stretched and got up, brushing dirt off his back and ass as much as he could. "You keep saying it's so dangerous, what's gonna happen? Turn me into a flower?"

Something dark passed over her eyes and she looked away from him, "You could lose yourself here. There are things here that will eat you from the inside out and wear you like a well tailored suit. Whatever you think you know or expect, forget it. This world will drive you insane."

Whatever he had been expecting, it wasn't that. He nodded once, solemn. "So why bother helping me? Aren't you just putting yourself in danger?" Though he doubted that without her help he would actually manage to get out of whatever mess he had stumbled into.

"Yes, well, it's a good thing I'm nice enough to help you." She bit her lip and looked everywhere but at him.


	8. around the corner

Foxglove - Insincerity

[G]

Continuation of under the desk (tulip)

* * *

_around the corner_

"You aren't sorry at all!"

"Nope. Not even a little."

"You fucking asshole! I don't know how you did it but I am going to murder you!"

Soul just laughed at his phone. He was going to have to lay low for a while it seemed from his brother's texts. Maybe he could go find Maka and hide under her desk again. That worked out rather well. He'd left in a hurry because she had started to threaten him with that book of hers (which was kinda new and exciting, most women just swooned when he met them), and gone in the opposite direction of his brother.

The hotel was enormous, there was an entire shopping mall underneath the lobby and a million restaurants (he had a goal to try them all), plus nearly fifty floors of suites. It really shouldn't be that hard to hide from Wes. Maybe he could take Maka out for lunch at one of those restaurants, he did sort of owe her big time.

But, in the same way he was expecting it to be hard for Wes to find him, he wasn't entirely sure he could find her desk again. It hadn't been in the main lobby, fuck, where was that?

He wandered for a while, it was nice to be away from all the security and cameras. So far no one recognized him as he went through the mall, but he did buy a beanie to help hide his hair. God, his mother would murder him if she saw him in a suit with a beanie, the thought made him grin.

Not really paying attention and texting his brother back, Soul walked around a corner and smacked right into someone. His phone went flying, the person went flying, he went flying, and they all kind of ended up in a pile on the floor.

"Damn, sorry- Maka?!"

"Oh my god, not you again!" Her face was bright red and Soul finally registered that his hand was definitely on her breast and it was the perfect size. "Get off!"

Soul rolled off her and pocketed his phone. "Sorry, didn't mean to. You okay?"

"God, you are just trouble!"

"I'll take that as a yes, was just thinking of you though. Want to get lunch?"

The look she gave him was priceless. Completely flabbergasted with bright pink cheeks. It was sorta cute.

"No! Thank you, but no."

"You sure?" He asked and offered her a hand to help her up. She had changed out of her hotel uniform and was in a plain dress and a sweater, it suited her better than the sharp lines of the blazer she had been wearing before (although, he hadn't gotten a look at her ass in the pencil skirt, that might be to die for), but the softer fabric and colors suited her so much more. Her hair was down too, a few strands pulled back and damn. She was gorgeous.

And this was coming from a prince who'd grown up around celebrities and some of the most beautiful people in the world.

Yet, here was this girl with green eyes and a brandishing a book who was caught him in a way he'd never expected.

"Yes! You are trouble and I really don't need any more trouble."

"Wait, please? Can I convince you? I owe you, and I would really like to take you out."

She glared at him and bit her lip, "why?"

"Ah, cause...you're different. Never met someone like you." It was sort of weird to be so honest and totally forgoing his usual cocky demeanor.

Maka kept eyeing him, looking for something in his face. "Fine. But only because I haven't eaten lunch yet."

He knew he was grinning from ear to ear and probably looked like a fool, but he couldn't bring himself to care. He had a date.


	9. it's a chess game

Iris - A message

[T]

This is based on an AU that I have in my head, but have never really managed to write. It's sort of a Castle AU.

* * *

_it's a chess game_

They're staring at her. They're gorgeous and they are staring at her. Fuck.

How had he even figured out that she loved them? When had he seen that she loved them!? How did he even know? She had never once mentioned it!

And yet there they were on her kitchen table.

Gorgeous chocolate orchids offset by white irises in the absolute most elegant arrangement she had ever seen. It was contemporary and fresh and she hated how much she loved it. She had never seen anything like it before, it was just stunning. It put her nice little apartment to shame!

And then the card. The fucking card. That asshole has just a god damn way with words it made her so mad!

Maka let loose a growl that Black Star had dubbed her "kitten growl" back in college. She was tempted to call Tsubaki but she couldn't remember the time difference. The flowers were taunting her, she was sure of it.

Never in a million years had she expected that damn author to be such a pain in her ass and yet here she was, curled up in her reading chair, glaring at flowers that must have cost a small fortune. He was such an infuriating, cocky, self important-

The door bell rang.

She stood and walked over to the door, taking a quick peek to see who it could be, it was nearly ten at night and she hadn't ordered take out (she'd been thinking about it admittedly).

When she saw who it was she considered not opening the door.

"I know you're in there Maka."

Fucker.

She cracked the door open to glare at him instead of the flowers, she didn't really want to make them wilt, but if she could deflate his ego even just a little. Well that'd be nice.

"Did you like them?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." She said as haughtily as she could.

He just grinned at her, "You purse your lips when you lie, it's kinda really cute."

Maka slammed the door in his face, but even then she could hear him laughing from outside. "Aw come on, Maka, we're gonna miss our reservation and you aren't even dressed!"

"I'm not going!"

"It's at La Place and I know you've wanted to go there."

Not even Kid, the visiting dignitary she was translating for could get reservations there. How in the hell did Soul manage these things!?

She cracked the door open again after undoing the chain and looked him over, he was in a crisp black suit and red undershirt, and from the shit eating grin he was wearing, he knew he was in.

"I don't have anything to wear." She tried.

"Have you looked in your closet yet?"

Her eyes went wide, "You didn't..." When Soul grinned even wider she let go of the door, not even caring if he came in, and went to her bedroom. When she had been walking from one hotel to the next and Soul had been following her (as he tended to do, saying she was his muse and he needed to shadow her) they had ended up walking past a window of beautifully simple designer dresses.

There was a garment bag on her bed from the store. Her front door clicked shut and she could hear Soul moving around in her apartment. "You find it?"

"I'm going to kill you if this is what I think it is."

"You wouldn't want to get blood on a dress like that, it'd stain. Or the flowers actually. Damn they out did themselves on this. Worth every penny. You don't want to know how many places I had to call to find chocolate orchids."

"How did you even know that I liked them?" Maka called from her bedroom, fingers itching to unzip the garment bag.

"Saw you looking at them at the press conference. You lingered, you never lingered unless you like something."

"I could have lingered because they were ugly!"

"Naw, you did the little smile."

Sometimes she hated how observant he could be. With a sigh she finally gave in and unzipped the black bag. God, it was as gorgeous as she remembered it. Fading from solid black to pure white, strapless, hitting just above her knees and flaring out from her natural waist. She checked the tag and it was even her size. Asshole.

She quickly shimmied out of her work clothing and decided to forgo a bar all together, her breasts were small enough that it wouldn't matter and really, strapless bras were just unflattering and awful. The material felt divine, the fade between the colors was just so beautiful, and it fit like it was made for her. Maka barely recognized herself when she glanced in the mirror, it was just too beautiful.

"You decent?" Soul asked.

"Yes."

He opened her bedroom door and his grin was less shit eating and just...soft. "Knew that was made for you. Do you still like it?"

"I love it."

"Now can I take you out for dinner? Please?"

"Soul...Did you mean it?" She watched him, gaze lingering on his eyes.

"Yeah, really do." He wasn't the cocky, arrogant, asshole author she was used to, this was the man who she kept seeing and could feel herself falling in love with against her better judgement.

"Fine. Take me to dinner."


End file.
